After debuting as a writer/director in 1996 with "D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner," a kinetic comedy of three men chasing each other around, Sabu has been a regular on international film circuits, and is especially liked by the Berlin International Film Festival where he has had six films screened in the past, of which two, "Monday" and "Kofuku no Kane," won awards.
For his 10th film, the actor-turned-director picked up "Kani Kosen," Takiji Kobayashi's famous proletarian novel from 1929. The novel, which depicts the hardships and revolts of exploited workers on a cannery ship in the Sea of Okhotsk, off the coast of Siberia, has struck a chord with young part-time and temporary workers, enjoying a revival last year and selling some 600,000 copies in 2008.
Sabu got an offer to make the adaptation in the midst of the so-called "Kani Kosen boom," and the timing was perfect for him.